MENU MAKER MOM'S INCREDIBLE BROWNIE MIX

We L-O-V-E brownies at my house!  To make life easy, I keep this delicious brownie mix on hand.  Makes it easy to have the yummy chocolaty confections any time we need a quick bite or a quick gift to give.

Do you like my brownie pan?  My hubby and kids picked this up for me because they know I love all sorts of kitchen gadgety kind of things.  In addition, all four of us always have a RACE for the corners of the brownie pan, and this special cooking pan solved that problem for sure!  Now everyone gets a corner or side!!!! 

I hope you have a chance to whip up some of this brownie mix before school starts!  When I don't bake these brownies in the wonderful brownie pan, I use a mini-muffin pan.  My kids and I have always loved eating Brownie Bites!  Just be careful not to overcook them if you use the muffin pan.  If overcooked, you end up with little brownie ROCKS!!!

When you bake the brownies, get creative!  You can add nuts, chocolate chips, or M & M's.  You can ice the brownies, dust with powdered sugar, or leave plain. 

Lastly, this brownie mix makes GREAT gifts!  Try putting one full recipe (2-1/2 cups of the mix) in a jar or a sealable plastic bag, along with the instructions, to make a thoughtful gift.  You could even give your entire mix and instructions along with a brownie pan as a gift!  The ideas are endless!!

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INCREDIBLE BROWNIE MIX

Ingredients:
6 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons salt
8 cups sugar
One 8-oz. can of cocoa powder
2 cups vegetable shortening

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cocoa.  Mix in the vegetable shortening, using forks or  a pastry cutter until you can no longer see the vegetable shortening.  You can do all of this in a food processessor too.  If your processessor is small, break the recipe into two batches.   Store the mix in an airtight container.  I don't know what the shelf life of this mix is because it gets used up quickly in my house!

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Baking Instructions:

2-1/2 cups Incredible Brownie Mix
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
OPTIONAL:  2 Tablespoons milk
OPTIONAL:  1/2 cup of nuts or candies such as chocolate chips or M & M's

In a medium bowl, beat the mix, eggs, and vanilla with a spoon until completely mixed, smooth and creamy.  If the mixture is too thick, add the optional 2 tablespoons of milk.  Fold in the optional ingredients, if desired.  Spread in a greased 8 x 8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Take it out before the sides look too dry!

**P.S.  You can double this recipe and put into a 13" x 9" pan***

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Happy baking and Peace to you all!!!
The Menu Maker Mom
Feeding the family ~ One menu at a time!

Missie's Cake-In-A-Mug Recipe

Menu Maker Mom Twin, Missie, loves to cook.  She especially loves to make cakes-in-a-cup.  Cakes -in-a-cup are so great for kids with a sweet tooth (which ones don't have a sweet tooth 24 hours a day???), for college students, or for anyone who likes to have a bite of cake now and then without breaking out the cake pans.  You can also add your own flavors.  We love to add a packet of instant coffee, or a quarter teaspoon of rum extract, a few tablespoons of chocolate chips, some nuts, or even a couple tablespoons of mashed banana or raspberries.... Be creative!!!

Here are a couple of her FAVE recipes:

Chocolate Cake:
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 teaspoon chocolate pudding mix
1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg beaters)
3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil (or applesauce)
1/2 tsp. vanilla 

1.  Greast a large coffee cup by using non-stick cooking spray or butter.
2.  Put the dry ingredients in a ceramic mug,  mixing well with a fork.
3.  Pour in the milk, vanilla and oil, and mix well.
4.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
5.  Add the chocolate chips (if using) and mix again.
6.  Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug and look like an erupting volcano, but don't freak out and turn the microwave off.  It's okay!!!
7.  Allow to cool a little, then EAT!   This is best eaten warm.

To make life easier for mom (and a whole lot cleaner!), make several packets of dry ingredients ahead of time.  Young cooks will have a few less items to throw around the kitchen!

NOTES: 
1. Don't forget to get the inside of your cup greasy with cooking spray or butter before you start!
2. Use a full-size cup!

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Here's a way to make a bunch of cake mix packets from boxed cake mix:

1 box cake mix, any flavor
1 box instant pudding mix in a complimentary flavor(3 1/2 ounce )

Place dry cake mix and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl and stir well to blend.
Measure out 1/2 cup portions and place each in a plastic sealable snack bag.

To cook:
1. spray inside of coffee cup with non-stick vegetable spray. 
2. Empty contents of cake mix bag into cup and add one egg, one tablespoon oil and one tablespoon water. 3. Mix well.
4. Microwave on high for 2 minutes at 1000 watts.

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Glaze for cakes-in-a-cup:

1/3 cup of powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of one of the following:  powdered creamer (for vanilla cake, etc.), hot cocoa mix (for chocolate cake), Crystal Light flavor (for fruit flavor cake like orange and lemon), strawberry milk flavor (for strawberry or funfetti cake), etc.

Put the glaze mix into additional snack bags.

While cake is baking, place glaze mix into a small bowl and add 1 1/2 teaspoons water.  Pour glaze over warm cake-in-a-cup and enjoy!


You can also use fudge topping, Carmel topping, marshmallows, or chocolate chips on top of cake before microwaving.

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By the way, cake mix and glaze mix packets tucked into mugs make GREAT gifts and party favors!  Just don't forget to include the directions!!

Menu-a-Menu Mixes

Mmmmm….. Can you smell it? It’s the smell of comfort and love. It’s supper bubbling in a skillet on the stove or a roast slow cooking in the oven, full of beefy oniony aroma. Growing up, my mother always seemed to make the most flavorful, scrumptious meals using a small set of spices, along with fresh items such as onion, garlic, green peppers. She still cooks with her basic set of flavors, and I’ve never once seen her pull a package of taco seasoning or onion soup mix out of the pantry.

I have such good memories of Mom’s cooking. I remember my friends saying my mom cooked the best, but I remember ungratefully wishing my mom would cook Hamburger Helper like my friend’s moms did!   I was so jealous of their boxed food!  Can you believe it??? We still laugh about that.

Mom still cooks with her spice list, making her cooking long and slow. Everyone knows that my mom still cooks the best!  Her grandchildren and their friends are absolutely spoiled on her specialty, old fashioned tex-mex cooking.

In my kitchen, on the other hand, I am always looking for a fast and healthy way to get the same result, but in less time. I love the idea of packaged seasonings, but hate the idea of strange unpronounceable ingredients and mega doses of salt and msg. I'm not sure what "natural flavorings" are, and I'm not sure about "artificial colors or flavors" either.  I want to do what my Mama did, only faster! My mixes taste “almost” like Mom’s, are as fast as a package mix, are void of most harmful chemicals, and while they do have salt, it is much less than in a typical package. Give them a try! 

Tip #1: I buy the large containers of minced dried onion, sea salt, and beef or chicken-flavored bouillon at a wholesale warehouse such as Costco’s or Sam’s. Buying tiny bottles would definitely add up quickly and destroy your budget!

Tip #2:  Don't throw out those small jars from pickles, picante sauce, etc.  They are perfect for storing your mixes!  You can almost see (sorry this is a photo taken with a Blackberry) that I am using a former olive jar, a small pickle jar, and a Smuckers ice cream topping jar.

Here are a few mixes to get you started.  Use them just like you would a store-bought packaged mix. 

Onion Soup Mix

¾ cup dried minced onion

1/3 cup beef-flavored instant bouillon

4 tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. celery seed, ground

¼ tsp. sugar
Mix all items together and store in a jar.  5 Tbsp = 1 package of onion soup mix

Shake-n-Bake
2 cups flour
2 sleeves saltine crackers, crushed
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. paprika
¼ c. vegetable oil
Stir up very well until the ingredients appear mixed and the vegetable oil is completely mixed in.  Store in a jar, indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Italian Dressing Mix
5 tsp. dried minced onion
5 Tbsp. dried parsley leaves
1-¼ tsp. ground dried oregano, ground
2-½ tsp. dried basil leaves, ground
1-¼ tsp. dried thyme, ground
1-¼ tsp. dried marjoram, ground
2-½ tsp. celery seeds, crushed
1-¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. dried mustard
1 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of pepper
Mix everything well in a bowl. Store in a jar for up to 6 months in your pantry. Makes 5 recipes of Italian Dressing.
To make dressing: Mix 4 tablespoons of the mix with 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, and ¾ cup canola oil.

Chili Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup chili powder
2 Tbsp. paprika
3 Tbsp. seasoned salt
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
2-1/2 tsp. black pepper
2-½ tsp. red pepper, crushed
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1-½ Tbsp. ground oregano
1-½ Tbsp. onion powder
1/3 cup flour
Mix very well and store in a jar in your pantry. Use 5-1/2 Tbsp. per chili recipe of 1.5 pounds of meat.

Taco Seasoning Mix
5 Tbsp. Chili powder
3 Tbsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. salt
1-1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1-1/2 Tbsp. black pepper
1-1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1-1/2 Tbsp. paprika
Store in a jar in your pantry. Use 5 tablespoons per taco recipe of 1 to 1-1.2 pounds of meat.. Makes 5 recipes.

Peace to you all!
The Menu Maker Mom
Feeding the family ~ One menu at a time